Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC's 7th Largest Position

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 313,266 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,508 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.5% of NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $48,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. FMR LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $18,672,198,000 after acquiring an additional 7,574,417 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after acquiring an additional 10,037,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after acquiring an additional 10,135,430 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOGL. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $189.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.71, for a total transaction of $5,483,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,587,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $436,570,192.16. This trade represents a 1.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,570 shares of company stock worth $32,003,532 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of GOOGL stock traded down $1.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $174.67. 27,636,835 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 30,391,108. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $162.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.61. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.